# Le violoneux > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Le_violoneux > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Le_violoneux.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_violoneux > Source revision: 1345514387 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|One-act operetta by Jacques Offenbach}} {{italic title}} thumb|upright|Jacques Offenbach by Nadar, c. 1860s '''''Le violoneux''''' is a one-act [operetta](/source/operetta) (« légende bretonne » - [Breton](/source/Brittany) legend) by [Jacques Offenbach](/source/Jacques_Offenbach) to a French [libretto](/source/libretto) by [Eugène Mestépès](/source/Eug%C3%A8ne_Mest%C3%A9p%C3%A8s) and [Émile Chevalet](/source/%C3%89mile_Chevalet), first performed in 1855.Lamb A. Jacques Offenbach. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. ==Performance history== The triumphant premiere was at the [Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens](/source/Th%C3%A9%C3%A2tre_des_Bouffes_Parisiens) in the [Champs-Elysées](/source/Champs-Elys%C3%A9es), [Paris](/source/Paris), on 31 August 1855, making a star of Schneider in her first role for Offenbach, to whom she had been introduced by Berthelier (with whom she was having an affair).Harding J. ''Jacques Offenbach.'' John Calder, London, 1980. ''Le violoneux'' was part of a command performance given in April 1860 for the Emperor at the [Théâtre-Italien](/source/Com%C3%A9die-Italienne), along with ''[Orphée aux enfers](/source/Orph%C3%A9e_aux_enfers)'' and ''Le musicien de l’avenir''.[Traubner, Richard](/source/Richard_Traubner). ''Operetta, a theatrical history.'' Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1983. Offenbach went to Vienna in 1861 to conduct performances of ''Le mariage aux lanternes'' and ''Le violoneux'' at the Theater am Franz-Josefs-Kai.Gier A. ''La fortune d’Offenbach en Allemagne: traductions, jugements critiques, mises en scène.'' Conférence à l’Auditoire du Louvre, Paris, 28 February 2002. [H. B. Farnie](/source/H._B._Farnie) adapted the opera into English as ''Breaking the Spell'', which premiered at the [Lyceum Theatre, London](/source/Lyceum_Theatre%2C_London) on 2 May 1870 and was revived in London in 1891 and 1904. It was played on tour for five months in 1878 by the [D'Oyly Carte Opera Company](/source/D'Oyly_Carte_Opera_Company) as a [curtain raiser](/source/curtain_raiser) to ''[The Sorcerer](/source/The_Sorcerer)'' by [Gilbert and Sullivan](/source/Gilbert_and_Sullivan).Walters, Michael and George Low. [http://www.gsarchive.net/companions/break_spell/index.html ''Breaking the Spell''], The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, 3 September 2011, accessed 26 May 2018 The Opéra-Comique in Paris staged the work in 1901 with Jeanne Tiphaine as Reinette, [Lucien Fugère](/source/Lucien_Fug%C3%A8re) as Père Mathieu and [Ernest Carbonne](/source/Ernest_Carbonne) as Pierre.Wolff, Stéphane. ''Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique 1900–1950.'' André Bonne, Paris, 1953. ==Roles== {| class="wikitable" !Role !Voice type !Premiere Cast, 31 August 1855
(Conductor: [Jacques Offenbach](/source/Jacques_Offenbach)) |- |Père Mathieu, village fiddler |[baritone](/source/baritone) |Darcier |- |Pierre, clog-maker |[tenor](/source/tenor) |[Jean-François Berthelier](/source/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Berthelier) |- |Reinette, god-child of Père Mathieu |soprano |[Hortense Schneider](/source/Hortense_Schneider) |- |} ==Synopsis== The scene is a village square in Brittany. Reinette asks Père Mathieu to help Pierre who is terrified as he has been conscripted in the army and can only get out of it if he pays 2,000 francs. His uncle has refused to help him with the money and sent him packing. Pierre is not happy when his sweetheart Reinette suggests approaching Mathieu, the village fiddler for he believes him to be a magician. Père Mathieu inherited the violin from his father along with the mysterious command to break the instrument in pieces if ever Mathieu is in an emergency, which he has yet to do. When Mathieu plays a song he bewitches Pierre; who when it is over runs off. Alone with Mathieu, Reinette threatens to run after Pierre and become a cantinière. Alone, Reinette embraces the old fiddle – the livelihood of her guardian. Pierre catches her doing this and angrily smashes the instrument. Among the broken pieces, it reveals its mystery: a letter, from Reinette's father stating that Mathieu is the rightful owner of the castle of Kerdrel. Matthieu offers the money for Pierre to avoid conscription and marry Reinette and tears up the letter. Pierre offers to repair the violin, and Mathieu says he will remain a poor fiddler.[http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Le_Violoneux French libretto] ==Musical numbers== * Overture * Couplets « Conscrit! Conscrit! » * Couplets et Duo « J’sais bien que c’n’est pas l’usage » * Ronde « Le violoneux du village » * Duo « Le clairon sonne à la parade » * Duo « Qué qu’ je vois !... » * Couplets « Je t’apportais ta délivrance » * Melodrame et Final « Tout petit dans ce village » ==References== ;Notes {{Reflist}} {{Jacques Offenbach}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Violoneux}} Category:Operas by Jacques Offenbach Category:French-language operas Category:Operas Category:One-act operas Category:1855 operas Category:Operas set in France --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Le violoneux](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_violoneux) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_violoneux?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.